[NYTr] FFRF Challenges N. Dakota's Subsidy of Christian Juvenile "Ranch"
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Freedom From Religion Foundation - Jun 19, 2007
http://ffrf.org/news/2007/NDlawsuit.php
FFRF Launches 11th Faith-based Lawsuit
Challenges North Dakota's Subsidy of Christian Juvenile "Ranch"
June 19, 2007
(Madison, Wis.) The 10,000-member Freedom From Religion Foundation, a
national state/church watchdog group, today filed a federal lawsuit in
North Dakota challenging state and county subsidy of avowedly Christian
juvenile detention facilities.
Within the week, the U.S. Supreme Court will be ruling over the right
of the Foundation and its members to sue as federal taxpayers over
aspects of the faith-based initiative. The Foundation's newest lawsuit,
its 11th explicit challenge of the faith-based initiative, relies on
state, not federal, taxpayer standing.
With three of its North Dakota members, Dorothy Manley, Ken Mischka and
Judy Mischka, the Foundation is suing Lisa Bjergaard, director of the
Division of Juvenile Services within the North Dakota Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Bismarck, and Daniel P. Richter,
director of the Ward County Social Services Department in Minot. Also
named as an interested party is the Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch, which
operates in Minot, Fargo and Bismarck.
The ranch, run by the Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod, and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, "attempts to modify behavior by
directing children to find faith in the Lord Jesus Christ," the
Foundation legal complaint alleges.
The facilities incorporate biblical teachings, subscribe to the three
Ecumenical Creeds and the Lutheran Confessions, and schedule weekly
Spiritual Life Groups activities, church attendance or other spiritual
activities on Sundays, individual spiritual discussions, prayers at
meals, baptism, confirmation studies, devotions, bible studies and
related discussion groups. Post-release mentoring services also
incorporate religion and are publicly funded with taxpayer
appropriations.
NonChristian religious services are expressly forbidden on the premises
of the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, including "smudging the
sweetgrass," which is a Native American worship ritual.
Each cottage at the Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch has a designated
Spiritual Life Specialist, who is a "direct care" person responsible
for the "spiritual life" of the committed children. Children are
initially interviewed by the Spiritual Life Advisor, who assesses the
"spiritual status and needs" of each child. Each cottage has Spiritual
Life Groups, which typically view videos or read the bible, followed by
discussions. All activities incorporate a Christian theme, and the
mission is to help children succeed in the name of Jesus Christ.
The "ranches" provide services to vulnerable youth who are experiencing
severe emotional disorders. Public agencies referring children are
responsible for paying for the care and treatment. Children are
committed without their consent by county social service agencies or
the North Dakota Department of Juvenile Services.
The Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch indoctrinates children to believe they
need "a close relationship with God" and that "Christ chose to love,
live, and die for all people, and that Jesus sits at the right hand of
God."
Children are disciplined for refusing to participate in the spiritual
aspects of their therapeutic treatment plan. Discipline includes
suspension of privileges, prolongation of commitment, and compelled
writing assignments explaining personal religious beliefs. Refusal to
participate in religious activities is considered nonparticipation.
Unwanted behaviors are characterized as "an offense or corruption in
the eyes of Jesus Christ." Staff are instructed to indoctrinate, and to
indoctrinate in Christian beliefs only .
The government defendants are violating the Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment, and impermissibly advancing, endorsing and promoting
the establishment of religion, the Foundation asserts. The funding and
referrals by the state and county "convey a message that religion is
favored, preferred, and promoted, and the programming procured by the
Defendants is cloaked in traditional indicia of governmental
endorsement."
The Foundation seeks a declaration that the arrangement violates the
First Amendment, an injunction barring the government from continuing
to refer children to the ranch, and an order enjoining the defendants
from using state and county funds to promote, advance or endorse the
establishment of religion, including disbursements made to the ranch.
"We were shocked to learn of such an egregious and blatant violation of
the separation between church and state, and one which involves such a
vulnerable population," said Foundation co-president Annie Laurie
Gaylor.
"This case shows the need of taxpayer lawsuits to challenge
state/church violations," added Foundation co-president Dan Barker.
"The government should not be sentencing juveniles to a religious
treatment program, and taxpayers should not be footing the bill to
indoctrinate children."
The Complaint, which was overnighted yesterday for filing today, is
being handled by Richard L. Bolton, of Madison, Wis.
North Dakota Legal Complaint (PDF) here:
http://ffrf.org/news/2007/FFRFvDakota.PDF
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., is a
national association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics) that has
been working since 1978 to keep church and state separate.
Freedom From Religion Foundation
PO Box 750 * Madison, WI 53701 * (608) 256-8900
*
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